Jon Hamm is negotiating to join the cast of ‘Pale Blue Dot’ opposite Natalie Portman. Noah Hawley is set to produce and direct, based on a script by Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi with revisions by Hawley and John-Henry Butterworth. Reese Witherspoon, who was at one time attached to star, will produce with Bruna Papandrea.

Pale Blue Dot centers on a married astronaut who returns to Earth after a mission and begins an affair with a fellow astronaut. She heads into a downward spiral as she loses her connection to her family — a condition that can afflict those who spend a long time in space — and when her lover begins another affair with an astronaut trainee, the bottom drops out.

You may recall the 2007 case of Lisa Marie Nowak, an astronaut who attempted to kidnap her romantic rival, U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, who had become involved with Nowak’s fellow astronaut William Oefelein. ‘Pale Blue Dot’ has not been declared a biopic adapting these events, but it was surely inspired by them.

Hawley created the FX shows ‘Legion’ and ‘Fargo’. ‘Legion’ Season Two has wrapped and premiers on April 3. Hawley has stated that the next season of ‘Fargo’ will not arrive until 2019. In the meantime, ‘Pale Blue Dot’ is expected to begin production this spring.

Portman can currently be seen in theaters in the Alex Garland science fiction thriller ‘Annihilation’. Her next film, ‘The Death and Life of John F. Donovan’ written and directed by Xavier Dolan is due sometime this year, but a release date has not been announced. This film costars Kathy Bates, Sarah Gadon, Emily Hampshire, Kit Harington, Thandie Newton, Susan Sarandon, Bella Thorne, and Jacob Tremblay.

Hamm appeared last year in Edgar Wright’s acclaimed heist thriller ‘Baby Driver’ and had a recurring role on Netflix’s sitcom ‘The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’. He was most recently seen in the drama ‘Nostalgia’ and has the thriller ‘Beirut’ directed by Brad Anderson, co-starring Rosamund Pike opening on April 11. He also appears in Amazon’s upcoming miniseries ‘Good Omens’.

Jax Motes

Jax's earliest memory is of watching 'Batman,' followed shortly by a memory of playing Batman & Robin with a friend, which entailed running outside in just their underwear and towels as capes. When adults told them they couldn't run around outside in their underwear, both boys promptly whipped theirs off and ran around in just capes.